User:Jword91403/Daniel Webster

Lead
'''A prolific writer throughout his lifetime, Daniel Webster's letters are well documented. Making and maintaining friendships led Webster to a successful career as a diplomat. Examining his letters gives us an insight into the relationships of male friends during the 19th century.'''

Education and public speaking
In 1796, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy, a preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. '''Upon his death, Daniel Webster was known as a great public speaker and writer, but he struggled to make friends and deliver his speeches at Exeter Academy. “When Webster first entered the Phillips Academy, he was made, in consequence of his unpolished, country-like appearance, and because he was placed at the foot of the class, the butt of ridicule by some of the scholars.” Taking offense to the ridicule he was receiving, Daniel Webster began studying all the great public speakers of the time. Applying himself paid off, and he quickly outpaced his peers in the classroom and in public speaking, “This rustic lad, whom you have made the butt of ridicule, has already so far outstripped you in his studies, that from your stand-point he is dwarfed in the distance, and will soon be out of sight entirely. He has developed a capacity for study which will prevent you from ever overtaking him. As a classmate you will never see him again."'''

After studying the classics and other subjects for several months under a clergyman, Webster was admitted to Dartmouth College in 1797. 'In the 2009 book The Overflowing of Friendship'', Richard Godbeer discusses Daniel Webster's relationships with his male classmates while studying at Dartmouth College. Webster was a prolific writer, which served him well as a politician and a statesman. Godbeer discusses Webster’s relationship with one of his closest friends, James Bingham, who he described as “the friend of my heart, the partner of my joys, griefs and affections, the only participator of my most secret thoughts”. Upon leaving Dartmouth College, both men would become lawyers and remain in contact. Webster described their friendship as an “eternal attachment.”'''

'''The two men often wrote letters discussing their cases. Daniel Webster was adamant that he would not be charging his friend for the service of his counsel, “If you want this opinion for your own use, or in order to help along any business in which you are professionally engaged, nothing will be to be paid for it. Whenever you think my opinion would be of any use to you, in your business, please to ask for it; and the oftener you ask, the more pleasure you will give me.” (Daniel Webster July 1, 1815). This was only the case for the close friends of Daniel Webster, “If, however. Dr. Angler wished you to obtain any opinion but your own, it is proper he should pay for it. You will see the fees marked in the corner.” (Daniel Webster July 1, 1815) '''

Seeking improved relations with the United States, British Prime Minister Robert Peel dispatched Lord Ashburton on a special mission to the United States. '''Tensions were high between the United States and Great Britain in the 1840s. Webster looked up to Lord Ashburton and considered him a gentleman, “His Lordship's frank and candid manner, his great intelligence and practical ability, and the apparent justice and moderation of his views and principles…” (Daniel Webster June, 28 1842). While the two nations negotiated, the friendship Daniel Webster cultivated with Lord Ashburton over the years allowed for a clear flow of communication between the nations. While Webster maintained his relationship with Lord Ashburton, he also maintained his close relations with fellow politicians in the United States, “Daniel Webster deserves considerable credit for his part in the abatement of martial spirit in the United States and the avoidance of war with Great Britain in 1842. But the true nature of his services in the cause of the peace has never been properly emphasized. The famous treaty he negotiated and guided safely past the Senate could probably not, in itself, have allayed the belligerent temper of his compatriots.”'''

Although the negotiations were tough, each man held the other in high regard at the end, “This letter closes, my lord, on my part, our official correspondence; and I gladly use the occasion to offer you the assurance of my high and sincere regard.” Lord Ashburton responded, “I beg, sir, on this occasion of closing the correspondence with you connected with my mission, to express the satisfaction I feel at its successful termination, and to assure you of my high consideration and personal esteem and regard.”